Device for simultaneously knurling and straightening leads and slugs



June 21, 1955 J. A. SMITH 2,711,108

DEVICE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY KNURLING AND STRAIGHTENING LEADS AND SLUGS Filed Oct. 13, 1952.

Jay/VA 5214/7 iJnite States Patent DEVTCE FOR SIMULTANEJUSLY KNURLKNG AND STRATGHTENE'JG LEADS AND SLUGS John A. Smith, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application ()etober 13, 1952, Serial No. 314,473

Claims. (Cl. 80-51) This invention relates particularly to an improved knurling device for spacing material such as leads and slugs to prevent work-ups in printing forms.

The present invention is designed specifically to prevent bowing of the spacing material as it is run through the knurling rollers.

It is an object of my present invention to provide a knurling device for spacing material such as leads and slugs for printing, which device is particularly constructed to positively prevent transverse bowing of said leads and slugs during the knurling operation.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a knurling device for spacing strips such as leads or slugs and having a strip guiding and confining passage with front and back edge confining elements, a pair of knurling wheels mounted in an intermediate portion of said passage and constructed and positioned to produce a knurled portion along the back marginal edge of a strip passed therebetween, the back confining element being offset rearwardly to produce a widened passage portion disposed toward the discharge end of the passage from the knurling wheels and the portion of the front element opposed to said widened passage portion being bent toward the rear offset confining element to forcibly engage the longitudinal edge of a strip passed through said passage and remove any transverse bowing of the strip produced by the knurling of the marginal edge portion thereof.

Still more specifically, it is an object to provide a knurling device for leads and slugs of the class described wherein the front edge confining element constitutes a resilient blade or leaf member adapted to be adjustably positioned to vary the straightening pressure exerted thereby.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of my improved knurling device;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view thereof taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a lead or slug after the same has been passed through my knurling device without being straightened showing the bow produced therein; and

Fig. 5 is a similar side elevational view of a lead or slug which has been knurled and simultaneously straightened in my new improved device illustrated.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I provide a knurling device for leads and slugs similar in many respects to the device illustrated in my cc-pending application, Serial No. 231,544, filed June 14, 1951, and which has a suitable supporting structure with a base 7 adapted to be securely anchored to a suitable support as by the apertures 7a formed therethrough with retaining screws or bolts extending through said apertures.

An upstanding mounting member 8 is rigidly fixed at its lower end to said base and forms a part of the supporting structure. A pair of vertically opposed spaced jaw members 9 and 10 are mounted on said upstanding member 8. The lower jaw member 9 is fixed to said member 8 and, in the form shown, is integrally cast therewith. A portion of the upper jaw member 16 is also fixed as by being integrallycast to said mounting member 8 and is designated by the numeral 10a. This portion 10a of upper jaw 10 is spaced above the opposed portion of lower jaw 9 to form a guiding and confining passage therebetween. The other portion of the upper jaw 11 is designated by the numeral 101) and is swingably mounted on a pivot pin 11 which is disposed in close association to one end thereof and a leaf spring 13 has one end connected with the top of said swingable jaw element 10b and the other end rides upon the top surface of the fixed upper jaw element 10a, as best shown in Fig. l, and normally urges the shiftable jaw element ltib upwardly away from the lower fixed jaw 9. A pair of knurling wheels 14 and 15 are respectively journalled in opposed portions of lower jaw 9 and swingable upper jaw element 1% and have roughened exterior peripheral surfaces of sufiicient width to only produce knurling along a portion of a spacing strip shifted longitudinally therebetween. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, said knurling wheels 14 and 1 5 are disposed along the back side of the jaws 9 and 10 to knurl only the marginal edge portion adjacent the lower longitudinal edge of a spacing strip passed therethrough. The lower knurling wheel 14 is, in the form shown, driven by any suitable means such as the crank 16 and is fixed to a shaft rotatably journalled in said upstanding mounting member 8, as best shown in Fig. 2. The upper knurling wheel 15 is journalled in a suitable recess provided in the pivotally mounted upper jaw portion 10b and is longitudinally spaced horizontally from pivot pin 11 to permit the spacing between said knurling wheels to be varied by swinging said pivotally mounted upper jaw portion 10b, said knurling wheels of course being disposed in vertically opposed relation. The driven wheel 14 rotates in a recess 9a provided in the lower jaw member 9 which, in the form shown, is divided into two sections by said recess. Any suitable means for controllably adjusting the spaced relation between the two knurling wheels 14 and 15 by swinging the pivotally mounted upper jaw portion 10b may be provided, such as the adjustment screw 17, which'is adapted to be screwed upwardly or downwardly in its mounting on the upper portion of mounting member 8 with its lower end in engagement with the top of shiftable upper jaw member 10b in spaced relation to the pivot 11 thereof. The spring 13 normally urges said shiftable jaw member 10b upwardly and maintains engagement thereof against the lower end of the screw 17 even when no spacing strip is being passed between said knurling wheels.

A strip guiding and confirming passage 12 is provided in the space between the lower jaw and the upper jaw 10 and said opposed jaw portions are disposed in close association to a spacing strip which is passed longitudinally through said passage 12. The end of passage 12 disposed nearest the knurling wheels will hereinafter be referred to as the entrance end of said passage and the other end will be referred to as the discharge end thereof. A spacing block 22 is mounted in fixed relation along the portion of the back edge of said passage 12 adjacent the shiftable jaw element 10b and, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, extends toward the discharge end of the passage a slight distance beyond the knurling wheels 14 and 15 and forms a back closure or edge confining element fora portion of said passage. The end of said block 22 nearest the discharge end of the passage provides a step or fulcrum 2211, as best shown in Fig. 3, and the portion of the mounting member 8 adjacent thereto closes the back edge of the discharge portion of passage 12 to form a stepped back edge closure and confining element.

A front edge closure or confining element 18 closes the front edge of passage 12 and, in the form shown, consists in an elongated blade made from resilient material, such as spring steel or the like. The discharge portion of the lower jaw 9 is beveled slightly toward the back of the passage 12 as is the discharge portion of the fixed upper jaw lilo to permit the blade or confining element 18 to be bent inwardly toward the back of the passage at the discharge portion thereof. Suitable means for anchoring the blade 18 to the lower fixed jaw 9 may be provided such as the anchoring screws 15. An adjustment screw 20 at the discharge end of said blade is threadably mounted in the form shown in the discharge portion of the lower jaw member 9, as best shown in Fig. 3, and permits the degree of bend and hence the degree of confining pressure of the blade 18 on the edge of a strip being passed through said passage 12 to be adjustably varied. A stop element 21 limits the inward projection of the discharge end of said blade 18 and, in the form shown, the portion of the mounting member 8 closing the back discharge portion of passage 21 is also beveled back away from the blade 18 to prevent binding of the rear edge of the lead or slug thereagainst as it is passed through said passage 12 and the extreme end portion of the mounting member has a clearance groove 23 cut therein, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3. i

The following is a description of the operation of my improved knurler for leads and slugs. The spacing strip, consisting in a lead or slug, is fed into the entrance end of passage 12 and passed between the knnrling rollers 14 and 15 which produce knnrling along the lower marginal edge portion thereof which is of course disposed along the rear marginal edge portion of said passage 12, as best shown in Fig. 3. The depth of the knurling cuts into the surface of the spacing strip may be varied by adjusting the spaced relation between the knurling wheels 14 and 15 by turning the adjustment screw 17. Normally, as the strip is passed between the knurling wheels 14 and 15, the lower marginal edge portion thereof is pressed into elongated relation to produce a transverse bowing of the strip, as shown in Fig.4. The spacing between the front surface of the spacing block 22 and the rear surface of the blade 18 is such that a lead or slug is slidably received with the longitudinal edges thereof disposed in relatively close fitting relation therebetween to prevent lateral shifting movement of the spacing strip as it passes through said entrance portion of the passage 12 and is engaged by the spacing block 22. As the forward end of the front edge passes into engagement with the rearwardly beveled portion of blade 18, said beveled blade portion will produce a reverse bow in said spacing strip by bending the same transversely about the step or fulcrum 22a to thus straighten the bowing of the strip normally produced by the knurling of one marginal edge portion thereof. The confining and guiding function of the spacing block 22 and horizontally opposed portion of the blade 18 combines with the transversely directed pressure and fulcrum 22a to produce the desired reverse or straightening effect on said spacing strip. The degree of bevel of the blade 13 can of course be adjusted by the adjustment screw 28 to produce the desired straightening pressure on the spacing strips being knurled.

The purpose of the knurling of said spacing strips has been clearly set forth in my co-pending application, Serial No. 231,544, filed June 14, 1951, and it has been found desirable to produce straight strips rather than strips having slightly bowed up end portions.

It will be seen that l have provided an extremely simple, yet highly efiicient, knuriing device which, while knurling only the marginal edge portion of an elongated strip,

eliminates any bowing of said strip and produces accurate straightening thereof.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described herein and set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for knurling spacing material strips for printing forms, said apparatus comprising, a supporting structure, a pair of vertically opposed jaws mounted on said structure and'forming a guiding and confining passage therebetween, said passage having an entrance end portion and a discharge portion, a pair of opposed knurling wheels of a width only sui'licient to produce knurling along the back margin ing step formed therein to provide an edge engaging bending fulcrum between the knurling wheels and the discharge end of the passage, a front engaging and confining member having a portion thereof disposed in spaced parallel opposed relation to the rear edge confining and guiding element, the spacing therebetween being substantially equal to the edge to edge width of a spacing strip to be passed therebetween to prevent lateral shifting thereof, said front member gradually extending rearwardly toward the discharge end thereof to produce a rearwardly directed bend in said strip about said fulcrum to straighten the bow produced in said strip by said knurling wheels.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 and adjustment means constructed and arranged to permit the spacing between the discharge end portion of said front engaging and confining member and the back edge guiding and confining element for varying the degree of rearwardly directed bend in the strip about said fulcrum.

3. Apparatus for knurling the lower marginal edge portions of strips used in printing forms to prevent workups, said apparatus having in combination a supporting structure, means mounted on said structure defining a strip guiding and confining passage having an entrance end and a discharge end, knurling means mounted substantiaily adjacent a longitudinal marginal edge portion of said passage, means defining an adjacent e ge of said passage in close association with said knurling means,

and means defining a remote edge disposed in transversely spaced relation to said knurling means, said knurling means being positioned in spaced relation to the entrance and discharge ends and disposed therebetween, the adjacent edge defining means having a fulcrum forming offset etween the knurling means and the discharge end 'of the passage and extending away from the remote edge defining means, the remote edge defining means defining an edge which converges toward the adjacent edge defining means between the knurling means and the discharge end of the passage.

4. Apparatus for structure, means mounted on said structure defining a strip guiding and confining passage having an entrance end and a discharge end,said passage defining means comprising a pair of transversely spaced edge defining elements having substantially straight, parallel entrance portions which define substantially straight entrance edge portions, a pair of knurling wheels disposed in vertically i edge portion of a strip passed therebetween, the entrance portion of said passage having a back edgeguiding and confining element with a rearwardly extend-' knurling the lower marginal edge portions of strips used in printing forms to prevent workups, said apparatus having in combination a supporting 1 line of the entrance portion of said passage to forcibly References Cited in the file of this patent engage the edge of a lead strip projected therethrough. I E STATE FATE TS 5. The structure set forth in claim 4 and adjustment UN T D S N means cooperatively associated with said converging edge 1862107 Bnieckner et a1 J 1932 portion, and constructed and arranged to controllably 5 2569350 Smlth "7"" Sept" 25 1951 vary the degree of convergence. 

